Fuck is the new mantra of our age.
How many times do you personally say it in a day?
What does it even mean when we say it when we stub our toe? It doesn’t mean sex when someone cuts us off in traffic.
So what the fuck does it actually mean?
I had a teacher in high school—don’t quote me on this; he was a quack, but a fascinating lunatic. He told us FUCK stood for Fornication, something something; it had something to do with raping and pillaging in the Middle Ages.
My Linguistics professor in undergrad told us no one knows the root of the word.
Why do we use it so much? Why do we like it so much?
Sometimes, when you tell someone “Fuck you,” it’s in jest.
Sometimes, it is the most hurtful thing you can say in a fight.
What other word on the planet has all these different varieties of meanings?
It’s fascinating to me. How did this one word get so much power?
In Punjab, they don’t just say motherfucker; they say sisterfucker. I live in dirty old America, but why am I grossed out by that?
I can say this word all day long, but in a heated fight, I’m ashamed to admit I used it towards my mother in a derogatory way. I’m honestly not proud of that moment. It was truly disrespectful.
I know American people say things like that to their mothers, but we Indians do not. I mean, we just don’t.
I’ve heard little kids saying it in this country, and I’m horrified.
That is not how I was raised. I said the word maybe twice in front of my father, and he made it very clear that I would not be using that kind of language around him or my mother.
I would watch Bill Maher with him, and he said he liked him except for the “dirty language.”
My dad was aghast that I used the word at all. I mean, he was a smart man who lived most of his life in America. He knew the way of the world.
He wanted his daughters to be above that.
Photo courtesy of Maksim Chernyshev via Scopio
Unfortunately, I am not. I’m putting this on the internet, for god’s sake.
I’ve been thinking about it lately since it has come to my attention that I say it too often. What energy am I putting out in the universe when I say a word like that? It’s confusing energy, first of all.
Second, it’s kind of nasty.
I’m not trying to be someone who doesn’t swear. I just think I can use my words. I’ve learned a lot of words over the years. Why do I keep going back to that one?
In my religion, Sikhism, you are supposed to chant the mantra of god’s name. That is supposed to bring you peace.
I mentioned a while ago that when I found a mouse in my garage, I started chanting fuck. It didn’t bring me peace. But it also got out my anger. It was kind of therapeutic.
So it’s not all bad.
But there’s something ugly about it, too.
I don’t know.
There’s something funny about it as well. I remember watching Four Weddings and a Funeral, and they were running to get to the wedding and chanting fuck, and it was hilarious.
So there’s that.
Also, I think it’s funnier when British people say it.
Whether you love this word or hate it, it’s all over the world.
Maybe it’s time we try to use our words.
nina
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